The title says it all, and the first word is particularly important: Sustainable Water Management Plan.
That phrase introduces a 138-page document that could play — if leaders can ever come to truly lead — a central role in ending at long, final last the decades-long fight over water that’s enriched lawyers in Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
The proposal, developed by the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Stakeholders Inc. is a pretty thin package when stacked against the growing reams of paper cranked out in an enduring legal squabble that’s gone all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. That brevity is to the ACF’s credit actually.
Rather than taking a hard-line view and arguing points of fact – or only fine slivers of law – as attorneys routinely do, the ACF folks took a commonsense approach. The outline they developed arose from grassroots discussion and a desire for consensus – and not from political pedestals or courtroom floors.
For this reason alone, the ACF plan is worth the strongest possible consideration as its group members begin to spread across the embattled three states to explain it to anyone with any pull who will listen. These earnest stakeholders should be heard, and their work closely studied.
To do otherwise, and continue stumbling along slippery banks of costly litigation and political grandstanding at the state and national levels is to stubbornly pursue a wasteful course that damages a good part of the Southeast’s economy, with the exception of course of the legal profession.
The ACF group recommends collaborative ways of dealing with the points of contention among the states. Among these are: How to sustainably use water and return it to the basin; manage dry years and drought conditions; and increase scientific and technical knowledge so that it can inform future decisions. Importantly, the plan also calls for strengthening ongoing tri-state coordination within the basin.
The ACF’s work is even more impressive when considering that it drew from a diverse confederation of more than 50 entities, ranging from Florida oyster harvesters to Alabama environmentalists, as well as agribusiness and power companies and others with a stake in the results. The group worked closely with universities and scientists to bring needed rigor to their work. As a point of disclosure, The Cox Foundation was one of more than 60 funding contributors for the work. Cox Enterprises Inc. owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Reading the ACF report reinforces that the time is long overdue to reach a peace treaty in the Tri-State Water Wars. Doing so means that the governors of the three states need to reach beyond their respective borders and work harder to achieve a workable deal. One that will finally provide a sustainable arrangement to allow the states to best continue the necessary work of stoking their respective economies.
That was exactly the plain advice delivered to Florida and Georgia earlier this month by the lawyer, known as a special master, who was named by the nation’s highest court to preside over the latest legal tussle begun when Florida appealed a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling to the Supreme Court.
Maine lawyer Ralph Lancaster told attorneys for the two states that, “Again and again and again I’m going to urge you to discuss a settlement seriously. Whatever the result is … we are talking a lot of money and a result you may not like,” he said.
There’s a strong message embedded in those words. Reduced to a bumper sticker, it would read: “Settle this – or else.”
And that is precisely what should happen as soon as practicable. The three states need to gather their respective teams, study the ACF group’s plan in depth, consult with any other financial, economic, environmental or scientific resources needed and kick into high-gear what’s been an intermittent process of high-level, interstate talks.
The end-game should be clear: A speedy settlement, not a costly continuation of a status quo that may be politically expedient, but is otherwise a disaster where it counts – in the three states’ economic prospects and their citizens’ quality of life.
It is encouraging that, of late, the governors three have been meeting in secret with each other. A gag order makes it impossible to accurately gauge progress, but the record shows Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has caucused with his counterparts in Alabama and Florida. Deal traveled last week to Florida for the latest round of quiet talks.
Deal is to be commended for his work in this regard. We strongly encourage him to continue in strongly representing Georgia’s diverse interests that would benefit from an equitable solution. While running for governor, the Hall County resident touted his expertise on water issues. Now’s the time for Deal to put that knowledge to productive use in navigating toward, and landing at, a good deal for Georgia and its neighbors.
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